Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas's relationship has been a major talking point this week. The Jonas Brother filed for divorce after four years of marriage. Legal papers filed on September 5 and obtained by Today reportedly state that "the marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken." Shortly before going to press, Joe, 34, and Sophie, 27, — who share two daughters — broke their silence on the dissolution of their union.
“After four wonderful years of marriage we have mutually agreed to amicably end our marriage,” reads a joint statement posted on Sophie's Instagram account. “There are many speculative narratives as to why, but truly, this is a united decision and we sincerely hope everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children.”
The unified statement comes after days of speculation as to why the fan-favourite pair may be calling time on their marriage. Two days before the divorce papers were filed, TMZ posted an article claiming to have insider knowledge about Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner's upcoming divorce. Quoting an unidentified source, the publication stated they had been told the couple had been having “serious problems.” The article went on to state that Joe, who is currently touring the U.S. as one third of the Jonas Brothers, had spent the past three months caring for the couple's two daughters “pretty much all of the time.” In a follow-up article, TMZ claimed that a source with “direct knowledge” told the publication that the duo have “very different lifestyles,” as while Sophie “likes to party,” Joe “likes to stay home.”
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This discourse is undoubtedly damaging to Sophie, somewhat placing blame on her. However, let's presume for a moment that Joe has been primarily taking care of the couple's children for the past three months in the U.S., while Sophie has perhaps been working or occupied elsewhere. Is that necessarily a bad thing? If the roles were reversed, and the reports stated that Sophie had been the primary caregiver for the past three months while Joe was occupied someplace else, nobody would bat an eyelid. I doubt it would muster any conversation at all. Yet the mere suggestion of a wife not being front and centre on the childcare front sparks a woman and mum-shaming discourse. Does Sophie not have every right to pursue passions outside of motherhood the same way Joe has the right to pursue things unrelated to fatherhood?
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While both Joe and Sophie's social media pages have been flooded with questions and support from fans, there are some comments on Sophie's second most recent Instagram post which are in direct response to the unsubstantiated reports surrounding the divorce. The carousel post uploaded on August 14, which is fronted by a picture of Sophie kissing Joe, now contains some choice comments in reference to the source quotes published by TMZ. One user went so far as to write: “Stop partying and take care of your child.” Others spoke out against the shame-inducing narrative. “I hope the rumours are untrue and if they’re true? I hope the reason is something other than ‘he can’t babysit his kids,’” one commenter remarked. “We live in a world where women are [in] 2023 working and living, while men are still in [the] 1950s, expecting a stay at home mum.”
As with any relationship breakdown, the only people who truly know what is going on with Joe and Sophie are, you guessed it, Joe and Sophie. In the meantime, it's best to not engage in the blame game. Especially when this particular narrative seems solely dependent on painting a less than positive picture of Sophie as a wife and mother.
